Interdimensional Games Inc.

Consortium: The Tower Early Access ALPHA 1.5 is live. Lots of bug fixes and general gameplay and content improvements and polish. Estimated amount of gameplay for Act 1 is 15-20 hours viewforum.php?f=157

She used The Elder Scrolls as an example where you pick up a book and you can read it. At first I didn't like the idea but I thought about it some more...

The problem with TES is that it doesn't keep record of the books you read so you can look at them again in the future. Accurate to the era, the only way to look at it again is to keep one in a library of your own making. Obviously things aren't done the same in 2042 so time to brainstorm...

Ironically enough, Alpha Protocol comes to mind. Remember that really long tutorial/conversation with Westridge (41:25)? He tells you (45:40, unfortunate fast-forwarding is unfortunate) how hearing a name or information will automatically add that information to your dossiers (his example: Westridge likes people getting straight to the point; professional attitude). Not only that, but dossier information can be weaponized in dialogs, often to the effect of taking the target character off guard, potentially even changing their behavior to a significant degree (there's one in my mind right now but it's very spoiler/end game stuff so won't elaborate). Additionally, when information is added to the dossier, it is clearly noted on the screen that the dossier was updated (46:50).

In Consortium, the keywords pop up in the information console, yes, but no indication is given to player to suggest it has;

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moreover, I can only really recall one instance where something in the information console can be weaponized (tell Knight 18 your name is Bob). If the "deicide," "vulnerary," etc. words that show up on the HUD weren't used for another purpose, I think a similar effect would have been great for alerting the user a word has been added to the information console.

I also think that a dossier feature, for example, would have been great for dealing with Kiril Angelov. Just imagine if Bishop Six not only had the alignment to work with, but also knowledge (which is our natural advantage in the lore). For example, you could tell him that "if I kill you, Petar will hide in the upper crawl space and take his place," and/or "if I befriend you, you lie to me about Strommon and Global," and/or "if you hate me, you try to become my ally; it really doesn't befit you." Obviously none of these dossier entries would be available unless you witnessed it in a previous playthough. If you only use one of them, he'd just outright dismiss it. If you use two, he still dismisses it but with clear concern that you know more than you should. If you use all three (would require three completedly playthroughs at minimum), he caves to your will. Since the Rooks and Knights would have seen this all go down, they would be flabbergasted at what just transpired. The immediate impact would be that Kiril would lock himself in the cell like Pawn 4 may do at the end of the game. Rook 25 would weapon lock Bishop 6 so he can't engage Kiril nor his men that retreat to the boarding carrier. There would be no fight with aircraft because Kiril orders them to retreat as well (maybe tells it to Yanko before he disembarks). The Rooks would ask some pointed questions about how Bishop 6 knows these things or understanding that Bishop Six isn't bullshitting about controlling Jenkins. In either case, Knight 15 would end by saying "save it for Ireland" or "the Queen isn't going to want to hear about this." In the latter's case in the spirit of cutting back on complexity/dialogs to record, she could lay down the law that "no one mentions this to the Queen" so it isn't discussed during that dialog tree beyond what is already available.

One of the biggest problems I had/have with Consortium is the lore is how inaccessible it is; by this I don't mean how readily it's available (because it's right there, always....haha), but rather how it feels like homework (like the first time I picked up Meditations on First Philosophy lol). Personally, I just dislike how information is placed at your feet as if to say "here's the lore, read it". I'm saying this as someone who, after getting the B.U.S, read a lot of the articles on the information article in my first playthrough. A lot of games have optional lore you can choose to read or not which is great! I love that. For example, Metal Gear has codec conversations, Dark Souls has item descriptions (which aren't very long but provide lots of information for speculation), Dragon Age adds information which you can review later on lore etc. It'd be nice if this did the same? I am a big fan of the Mass Effect/Dragon Age Codex way. It's more organised and a good way to get a lot of information out there. In addition, as well as the codex it could be implemented in other ways (whatever they may be...maybe dialogue etc).

Oh, I get what you're saying about homework and I agree. The exception to the rule is finding information in there that is difficult...a puzzle unto itself. Specifically:

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The path to finding Bishop Six's identity and the document Malcolm Thomas hid.

Other than those, the only thing I distinctly recall reading about was the "Weapons of the Gods." I don't really recall reading anything else.

How to make the content that is already there more interesting? Hmm...

The only idea there is a ball of yarn. Pick a thread to pull and pull it, leading to more threads, and more threads. Fundamentally, a wiki. You read one article that contains clickable keywords that lead to more information/articles on that subject. Every link you click permanently unlocks that article in a table of contents. Sure, someone could mindlessly click stuff and not read any of it but, like the ARG and the current information console, not all articles are easily accessed. On that note, I hope the archiver articles ported into The Tower keep the same structure in The Tower. For example, finding...

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The Truth

...is something very rewarding to players familiar with the lore; moreover, it represents a reward for those that explore the lore and not just click through it.

Back to the codex thing...Consortium's information console is missing a table of contents which clearly organizes and displays the articles the Seeker is supposed to see with minimal effort. Keywords are great but they don't replace the functionality/usefulness of a table of contents. A simple solution would be to have every article in a category and being able to see all non-hidden articles by clicking on its respective category.

I agree that the information console could be structured better - all the good suggestions are already out in the open :)

That said, I find it perfectly fine how the console is your only way to "learn" about a world you have just been put it. I think I like this immersion aspect, because life doesn't give you its lore in structured increments.

From a game-play standpoint, I would love to see more answer types, based on whether you read an article or not. I would have also liked to see reactions from your crew mates when they walk by you while you read some "interesting" articles.

I am not sure where to put this information console related question so I will just throw it into this in here. And as I start to churn that brain power from slumber my apologies if this gets to be rambling.

What the Information Console? A selected group of articles (out of the total of human history) that in game people decided was important to have saved on the Zenlil?

If Consortium was purely the plane ride to the mission, The Tower, then what lore or explanation is there for jumping into The Tower, and having a ton of Tower related console stuff, that doesn't appear in Consortium?

Will console info in Consortium, be available in The Tower? After all, it is historical data, and even breaking news data. So what reasoning would there be for consoles in The Tower having the same console historical data, or not have that data?

What I'd be interested in knowing is if some articles written for The Tower will be back-ported into Consortium to continue to flesh out the alternate universe. For example, the article about the Churchill Tower that was in burst 2 of the ARG would be useful to Seekers preparing to jump to the tower.